


Temporal Paradox

by Corrie71



Category: Almost Human, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Not Beta Read, Romance, Time Travel, post Narada
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-06 12:39:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrie71/pseuds/Corrie71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim Kirk goes back in time to 2048 and meets John Kennex and Dorian...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In the Almost Human verse, this story is set just before the Bends episode, with the Bishop still at large.
> 
> In Star Trek, this story is set during the post-Narada PR cruise but before the events of STID.

Bones and Spock were right. He should have listened to them. 

Not that Jim Kirk would ever admit that out loud. 

He should never have allowed Sarek on the Enterprise. 

Time-twisting bastard that he was. 

Ever since they’d mind-melded on Delta Vega, just a few short months ago, Jim considered Sarek a friend. He remained fascinated by the parallels and paradoxes of the “other” dimension. He’d thought the old Vulcan considered him a friend too. More fool him. Now, stranded in post-Eugenics war LA, in the year 2048, in a dark, cold alley with no money and no hope of rescue, Jim reconsidered his position on the treacherous, green-blooded old hobgoblin. 

On Sarek’s instructions, they’d sailed to a point where the veil of time was tissue thin. Again listening to Sarek, Jim beamed down alone, overriding Bones and Spock’s advice against it. He’d ended up in this cold, dirty alley, hiding behind a pile of trash, watching a drug deal for something called “The Bends” go seriously haywire. 

As he watched, a tall, heavy set man ordered a droid to terminate the sniveling informer. The droid raised a gun—an actual, real, firing bullets gun—and drilled a neat hole in the man’s forehead. His stomach twisted and heaved at the gore splattered on the filthy brick wall. He’d never seen an actual gun outside of a museum. He hadn’t known what a mess they made.

Jim hid, shivering, his leather smuggling get up doing little to keep him warm, behind the dumpster until the police had arrived, at which point he’d revealed himself as a witness. Several hours later, he sat in the police station, sipping water, listening to the soothing voice of Detective Valerie Stahl, encourage him to go through his memories, help her sketch the assailant. Jim considered that he was probably in shock since he wasn’t reflexively flirting with her, even if she was pretty, in a bland sort of way.

Then Bones walked in. Jim started to wave to him but stopped. There was something off. First of all, Bones was not wearing his blue Starfleet uniform but instead dressed in all black with a gray shoulder holster that showed off his broad shoulders and toned chest. And this Bones possessed more lines on his face than his Bones. And his hair was different too—shorter and spiky. Jim couldn’t stop staring at him, mesmerized. Not-quite-Bones sat down across from him and looked at Jim. He smiled and Jim knew for sure then that it wasn’t his Bones.

So, who was this guy?


	2. Chapter 2

“What’s your name, kid?” The man’s voice though— that whiskey and smoke voice—was all Bones. But he didn’t have a trace of a southern accent. Jim shivered and Valerie gently tossed a shock blanket over his shoulders.

“Jim. Jim Kirk.”

“I’m Detective Kennex. This is my partner, Dorian.” Jim hadn’t even noticed the partner. He glanced at him and then stopped to stare.

“He’s an android.” Jim blurted stupidly. Kennex nodded, raising his eyebrows. Much like the gun, Jim hadn’t seen early models of androids out of museums. 

“Can you tell us what you saw in the alley?”

Jim went back through it again. Kennex nodded and said, “Okay. You can go.”

“Go where?”

“Home.” 

“If only.” 

“You’re homeless?” Dorian said. “He can stay with us, John.”

“Dorian! You can’t just invite people to my apartment.”

“I didn’t realize Dorian was living with you, John.” Valerie said. Kennex—John—not Bones—shrugged and flushed while Dorian continued.

“I can sleep on the couch. Jim can have the guest room. It only makes sense, John. If the Bishop figures out…”

John put up a hand and scowled. Jim ached with missing Bones. “Fine. Another roomie. Come on, kid.”

Jim tossed his leather jacket over his black Starfleet undershirt. He crumpled the gold command shirt in his pocket in his fist, a comforting reminder of home. He followed John and Dorian to their car. Though not quite as old as the car he’d once flung into a canyon, it was ancient. Jim struggled to open the door and then, with some amused help from Dorian, managed to crawl into the backseat.

“Perhaps our guest would like dinner.”

“Are you suggesting I buy him dinner?”

“I don’t eat and don’t get paid so…”

“Fine. Hope you like noodles, kid.”

He trailed along, trying to orient himself in a world 200 years before his own, that was still 15 years before First Contact with Vulcan. He’d been to new LA on an Academy field trip once. It startled him to realize that it didn’t exist here. That here, in this time, people still lived, loved, worked, and died on a tiny spit of land that would topple into the sea in an earthquake at the turn of the century. 

The 22nd Century. 

John and Dorian bickered companionably in the front seat, reminding Jim painfully of him and Bones. How he wished he’d made Bones come with him on this adventure. They would be the ones having the great time, joking and laughing. And he couldn’t even imagine Bones’ reaction to John. He wondered if Bones could be John’s descendent. They certainly looked enough alike. He’d have to ask Bones when he got home. If he got home.

“So, what’s your story, Jim?”

“I’m the Captain of a starship, two hundred years in the future.” 

John shook his head, rubbing his hands over his forehead. The gesture was so like Bones that it actually hurt Jim to watch. “First Maya and now you. How do I always end up with the crazy ones?”

“You’re a time traveler, Jim?” Dorien asked.

“Don’t you start too.” John snarled.

“It only makes logical sense, John. We do not yet possess time traveling technology. If a time traveler were possible, they’d have to come from the future.”

“Time travel is not possible.” John said, flatly. 

“My ship is the USS Enterprise. Believe me, time travel and alternate timelines are possible. I’ve got two versions of my first officer running around up there.”

“Of course you do. And what else can you tell me about your imaginary friends?”

“My CMO—Chief Medical Officer—looks just like you.”

“Course he does.” John pulled over and Dorian hopped out to pick up their noodles. 

“How long you two been partners?”

“A few months. They still have droids in your world?”

“Yeah.” Jim nodded. He refrained from mentioning the Federation and all the alien worlds. He could hear Spock’s disapproving voice lecturing about the Prime Directive, though Jim was not 100 percent sure it would apply in this situation. He’d probably said too much already. Dorian arrived with the noodles and they drove to John’s apartment, as Jim tried to make sense of this strange new world.


	3. Chapter 3

By the third day back in time, Jim was bored. Because they were trying to protect him from this shadowy “Bishop” character, they couldn’t go anywhere and remained trapped in John’s apartment. They subsisted on takeout, especially after Dorian tried to cook and nearly burned down the kitchen. He struggled to assimilate to the dated technology surrounding him, needing John’s help for the simplest thing. Even turning the lights on was a struggle.

Dorian spent considerable time charging in the guest room—where Jim slept at night—so most of the time, Jim hung out with John. He’d been fascinated by John’s artificial limb—“We totally don’t have these anymore in the 23rd Century. Bones could fix you right up.”

“Everything with you is Bones this and Bones that. He must be your favorite imaginary friend.”

“Not imaginary but yes, my best friend. We met at the Academy.”

“What Academy?”

“Starfleet. Actually, we met on the shuttle…” Jim told John and Dorian as many stories about Bones as he could remember. He couldn’t tell if the stories actually made the homesick ache he felt when he thought of Bones and the Enterprise better or worse. 

“So you and Bones…you’re together?” Dorian asked, as Jim and John ate supper on the evening of the third day, Dorian sitting at the table with them companionably.

“Oh my God! Dorian! You cannot just ask people…”

“It’s fine, John. No, Bones and I aren’t like that.” 

“But you’d like to be.” Dorian said confidently. 

“Dorian! I’m sorry, Jim. We’re still working the socialization kinks out…”

“Yeah, I would.” Jim answered, waving away John’s concerns. “But…”

“But what?” John asked, when Jim didn’t seem like he’d go on.

“How come you can ask that and…” 

“Hush, Dorian!” John snapped, holding up a palm.

“Well, I thought it might go that way for a while but…” Jim rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve never been able to…”

“Escape the friend zone?” Dorian supplied helpfully.

“Stop running that colloquialism program! Stupid thing is buggy. No one says friend zone anymore, man.” John sighed and Jim laughed. 

Eventually, Jim managed to pry John’s life story out of him and found out about Anna, the Syndicate, and his injuries. Jim figured out John’s crush on Dorian all on his own but was far more tactful than Dorian and refrained from pointing it out. They spent a lot of time chatting, trading war stories, laughing companionably.

On the fifth day, they broke out the bourbon. As twilight crept over the apartment, they sat in companionable silence, sipping drinks. Jim wandered to the window, glancing out to see the stars, missing his ship, his crew, and his best friend. John followed him and placed himself between Jim and the window. 

“I know it’s hard being cooped up here, kid.” John patted his shoulder. Jim stepped forward into the circle of his arms. Their eyes locked for a heartbeat and then another. Finally, Jim leaned in and brushed his lips over John’s plush mouth, tasting bourbon and sin.

“Am I reading this wrong, John?” Jim whispered. In response, John swept him into his embrace and devoured Jim’s mouth. He maneuvered Jim to the bedroom, falling on the bed together. It was hot and wet and wild and desperate and rough and tender all at the same time. And if both of them were thinking of and imagining other people, they knew the other understood.


	4. Chapter 4

Like all one-night stands, the next morning was just awkward. With extra bonus awkward points for Dorian being up and about before John and Jim emerged from the bedroom. John went to the kitchen to get them coffee as Jim slid onto a barstool. 

“Morning, Dorian.” John greeted him easily.

“I see your testicles are no longer backed up, John.”

“Dorian! What did I tell you about scanning my balls? That’s not…”

“Socially acceptable. I know. That’s why I wasn’t going to tell Jim my results from his scan.”

Jim snorted with laughter, reminded nearly painfully of Spock and Bones arguing on the Enterprise. John shot him a wry smile and just like that the tension and awkwardness eased. He sat at the counter, sipping his coffee. Dorian stood across from him, watching him with a bland expression. He really hoped that he wasn’t going to get all jealous. There wasn’t anything serious between John and him—just two people helping each other over the lonely spots in their lives.

Since he’d taken command of the Enterprise after the Battle of Vulcan and the Nero incident, Jim had been focused on anything else but sexual pleasure. Not there he had many choices while on board. By virtue of his rank, most crew members were off limits to him. Then, to add an extra layer of torture, he’d chosen the only person he’d ever wanted and couldn’t have to be his CMO. 

Jim knew that Bones loved him, would follow him anywhere, would die for him. Bones had proved that much by smuggling him aboard the Enterprise. But, in three years of friendship at the Academy, he’d never shown the slightest interest in Jim romantically…and Jim had tried everything he could think of to get Bones to noticed him. Bones also never seemed to notice the way Jim pined for him. Ironic really. Jim could have had anyone at the Academy—women, men, different species. And all he wanted was a cranky, aviaphobic country doctor. 

Well, he supposed, perhaps that had been why he’d been so attracted to John, besides the fact that John looked and acted like Bones’ older, crankier twin. They both desired someone they couldn’t have. He tried to remember what the state of human-android unions had been 200 years before his time. In his time, inter-alien marriages were commonplace so droid-human marriages were old news. No one would think anything of it. But, he was woefully ignorant of when that had changed. 

Jim thought he’d actually done the droid a favor in a weird way. John had confided in him the night before that he hadn’t been with anyone since the accident that took his leg. Jim felt like John might possibly have the confidence to try with someone else—someone he actually liked— now. He ignored how that advice might apply in his own life because thinking of Bones made him too homesick.

“I thought you had a crush on Valerie.” Dorian finally said. John choked on his coffee. 

“Detective Stahl?” Jim asked, incredulously. Did Dorian not have any idea about John’s crush on him? Jim thought it glaringly obvious. John shrugged, blushing and refusing to look at Dorian.

“But your hook-up with Jim would indicate…”

“I’m not interested in Valerie as more than a friend.” John said, scrubbing a hand over his reddening face. Dorian quieted at that and Jim was reminded of Spock processing some puzzling human emotion. He missed all of them so much it ached. He knew that his loyal crew would be working overtime to bring him home. He just had to wait. No matter how difficult inactivity was for him.

“We’ll figure a way to get you home, Jim.” John patted his arm. Jim wondered when John had really started to believe that he was from the future. 

“Yes, I am looking forward to finding out how to get you back to your time.” Dorian said. Jim could have sworn he heard the snark underneath that comment, robot or not.

“I bet.” Jim answered, trying not to laugh. 

“Let’s go see Rudy.” John said. “Maybe he’ll have some answers.”

“I don’t think moving Jim out of the apartment is a good idea, John. It’s against protocol…”

“You can stay here and keep the coffee warm, if you’d rather.” 

Within an hour, they left the apartment, Dorian still protesting. John took a circuitous route to the precinct and parked in the alley behind the station. They crept toward the back door when Jim noticed a spider moving oddly. He stopped John with a hand on his arm and pointed out the weirdly scuttling spider. Suddenly, he realized that it was an old fashioned mini-bot.

“Dorian, it’s a trap…” John turned to push Jim back towards the car, as Dorian shielded John. The tall, heavy-set man from the alley stepped out from behind a dumpster, raising his gun towards them. Neither Dorian nor John could get a shot off in time. Jim grabbed his phaser and stunned him, trying to ignore the Spock voice in his head shouting about the Prime Directive.

“Nice shot, future boy.” John said as cops started pouring from the station, the three of them still huddled against the car.

“Now, I can go home. If only I could figure out how.” Jim smiled at him. 

Just then, the transporter beams wrapped around the three of them. Jim heard John say “What the…” before they dissolved.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise...

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Enterprise, Bones and Spock-the-younger could not stop arguing and finger-pointing and generally trying to eviscerate each other with words as they had from the moment Kirk beamed down. The rest of the bridge team spent their time actually working on a solution and staying out of the way of their warring Acting Captain and their CMO. Sarek simply kept his own counsel.

“Doctor McCoy, it is not so easy as sending a shuttle down or beaming the Captain back. The trans-time beaming equation is enormously complex coupled with the fact that we are on the knife edge of a space-time fold…”

“A wrinkle in time? What’s next? A Tesseract?”

“Ms. L’Engle did not have the scientific particulars right but the idea is, in essence, correct.” 

“If you’re done with your time origami, Spock, perhaps you could figure out how to get our Captain back?”

“What do you think I have been doing for the three hours he’s been gone, Doctor?” Spock turned away to confer with Scotty. 

Frustrated, Bones ran his hands through his hair and turned to Sarek, placidly sitting in Spock’s chair, quiet and watchful. “What about you? This is all your fault. Don’t you have any brilliant ideas?”

Sarek cocked his head to the side, a half-grin on his face, as he watched Bones meltdown. “I believe Jim will accomplish all that is necessary, just as he always does.”

Just as Bones drew breath to blister the old Vulcan’s pointy ears, Chekov interrupted, “We know how to beam him back. Mr. Scott modified his trans-warp beaming equation to add in time as a factor.”

“Instead of space being the moving factor, time is. Ingenious.” Spock said. 

“Terrific. No risk there.” Bones sighed as Chekov looked crestfallen. “It’s the best we’ve got and I know Jim well enough to know he’d risk it. Okay, kid, we’ll give it a try. Did you turn 18 yet?” 

“Next month, Doctor.” Chekov glanced at Sulu and blushed. Bones didn’t have time to figure out what that meant before they all trooped down to the transporter room. Chekov, Sulu, and Scotty manned the controls. After a few seconds where Bones held his breath, they beamed back not only Jim but two other people huddled in a pile on the floor. Or one person and a droid, both with old fashioned guns pointed at the bridge crew. 

Jim jumped to his feet and turned to the two people with him. “It’s my crew. Put your weapons away. They won’t hurt you.”

The droid and the other man stood slowly and holstered their weapons. Bones just gaped at the man before rounding on Spock. “You didn’t say anything about doppelgängers and other dimensions. Is this Sarek’s buddy?”

“I do not know, Doctor. But you are correct. The resemblance is remarkable.” Bones stared at the man who had his own face. It wasn’t precisely like looking into a mirror—more like looking at a modified holograph of himself. Had they beamed Jim to another dimension? Was he looking at a different version of himself? And why would he bring them home with him?

Jim complained, ‘Took you all long enough.”

Spock asked, “How long do you believe you’ve been gone, Captain?”

“Captain? You were serious about that starship thing?” The man who looked like Bones said, no trace of the south in his voice, still glancing around the transporter room wide-eyed. The droid’s face glowed blue as he tried to process what he was seeing.

“About a week. I went to LA, 2048.”

“These are time travelers? They could have brought anything forward in time. Diseases we’ve eradicated. Bones snapped. “Activate the containment protocol.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bones references Madeline L'Engle's book "A Wrinkle In Time."


	6. Chapter 6

“You care to introduce me to your friends?” Bones asked Jim after they were all safely ensconced in the containment suite in medbay. After some quick arguing on Jim’s part, Bones agreed to allow Jim, John, and Dorian to room together. Of course, he insisted on treating them himself also. 

Now that Bones and John stood next to each other, the differences between them become obvious to Jim. John was older than his friend, more rugged, more lines on his face. Though their hair was the exact same shade of ebony, they styled it completely differently. And their voices were slightly different too. Otherwise, they looked like twins, even sharing many of the same mannerisms. Jim performed the introductions and watched as John and Bones sized each other up, Dorian looking amused from the sidelines.

“You must be Bones. Jim talks about you all the time.” Dorian chimed in and Jim glared at him. He would swear the robot was laughing at him. “We heard lots of stories about you.”

“I’m sure about half of them are true.” Bones grinned at Dorian as he continued to scan John, his eyes locked on the readout. 

“Do you have children, Mr. Kennex?” Bones asked, wielding his medical scanner, and scowling at what had to be his ancestor as Jim slipped off his biobed to confer with Spock in the corner.

“John, please. And no, none that I know of.” 

After a preliminary medical exam, Bones handed the medical scanners off to a nurse and strode over to where Jim stood conferring with Spock. “John Kennex was my great-grandfather, five times over.” 

“I kinda figured you were related.” Jim nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn’t bargained on Bones and John ever being in the same room. This had the potential to get awkward quickly. He didn’t know why he felt guilty. It wasn’t like Bones cared about his hook-ups. Though, in this instance, he might care about who Jim had hooked up with. 

“The familial resemblance is quite remarkable, Doctor.”

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t have any kids yet so…” Bones said.

“We have to find a way to restore him to his time, Captain…”

“Otherwise, I wink out of existence.” Bones put in and Jim shuddered, rubbing his hands over his face.

“Why can’t we just beam him back? The way you all beamed me back in time?”

“You were meant to go to an alternate timeline. Yet you ended up simply traveling backwards in our own timeline. The trans-temporal beaming equation must be refined before this is attempted again.”

“That old green-blooded hobgoblin bastard tricked all of us…” Bones started but stopped when Jim held up a hand. 

“Okay, Spock, you work with Scotty, Sulu, Chekov and anyone else who can help on that. Bones, can you fix John’s leg?”

“You figure a way to get him and the robot home and leave the doctoring to me, okay?” Jim commed Chekov and Scotty as Bones walked away.

Bones walked back over to his…grandfather. He could scarcely wrap his mind around it. Only Jim would get them into this mess. “The Captain—Jim—would like me to examine your leg. Is that alright?”

John settled on the table, Dorian taking up the position opposite Bones for the duration of the exam. With difficulty, Bones swallowed his horror at the state of the amputated limb. Bones would have to operate to remove the sensors and mechanical parts attached to John, thus taking even more of his leg. Damn barbaric 21st century medicine. But it was possible they could re-generate the leg if…

“So who was your grandmother?” John asked, when Bones had been quiet nearly a quarter of an hour. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear…”

“No sure I should answer that. Temporal paradoxes and all.” Bones took pity at the frustration on his ancestor’s face. “Her name was Abby.”

“You sure it wasn’t Anna? Or Valerie?” Dorian asked.

“No, Abigail Marie. It doesn’t seem like that was the answer you were hoping for, John.”

“I don’t know anyone named Abby.” John shrugged and glanced away. 

“I’m sorry. I know it’s tough to hear uncomfortable truths.”

John gestured at his leg. “I’m used to it.”

“I believe I might have good news for you there…”


	7. Chapter 7

Every day after his shift ended, Jim came by to eat dinner with a recovering John in medbay. Bones usually joined them and Dorian stayed in his ever present watch over John. Jim reflected one evening to himself that it was like the world’s most awkward double date—him with Bones and John with Dorian. Or maybe Bones and Dorian thought they were chaperoning him and John which made it just awkward squared. 

He thought Bones might sense there was something more to him and John’s relationship but, so far, he hadn’t commented or asked. And Jim hadn’t said anything. He knew he could trust John’s discretion. Dorian, on the other hand… Well, it might be best to get them back to their own time as quickly as possible. 

In 2048, Jim had thought that his no-strings attached one-night stand with John would quench this inconvenient desire he felt for Bones. After all, he’d coped reasonably well with being just friends with his Academy roommate for over three years as Bones rejected every advance Jim made. Instead of relieving the constant ache he felt for Bones, his tryst with John made it worse. He now had a pornographic memory to accompany his admittedly vivid imagination. He wondered if Bones would moan and sigh and kiss the same way John did. Jim was actually about to go out of his mind with lust. He was going to end up grabbing his poor, unsuspecting CMO by his sky blue shirt that made his eyes look sage and his stupid, sexy, mussed up hair and that pouty lower lip and… 

“Why are you starin’ at me, Jim? Do I have something on my face?” Bones swiped at his chin with his napkin as John and Dorian exchanged grins.

“Do NOT say a word, Dorian.” John warned and Bones glanced between them, puzzled. “Doc says I’m ready to go on that tour of the ship tomorrow, Jim.”

After conferring with M’Benga, Bones operated on John and began re-generating his leg the day after his arrival forward in time. Within three days, he was in PT again, Dorian hovering close by like an electronic guardian angel, teasing and bickering with John to encourage him to use his new limb. Jim noticed he never strayed more than an arm’s length away, in case John fell or needed support. He’d also memorized John’s course of treatment and physical therapy moves. Scotty had rigged up a rudimentary charging system for Dorian that allowed him to stay energized, but at a lower level than usual. 

“Sounds good. I think Spock and Chekov have figured out a way to beam you back home.”

“That’s what Sarek wanted all along. Trans-time beaming.” Bones said and Jim nodded.

“Yes, he’s volunteered to be the test case. In fact, if all goes well, he should be returning to his time in the next hour or so.”

“Good riddance.” Bones said.

“After having spent a week in 2048, I sympathize with him. I get wanting to return home to the people you love.” Jim said, his eyes never leaving Bones’ face. John exchanged another smile with Dorian. 

* * * 

After his tour of the ship with Jim and Dorian the next day, an exhausted John returned to medbay. Dorian headed over to recharge, leaving John in Bones capable hands. Bones helped him into a biobed, clucking like a mother hen. 

“I’m going home to find your grandmother tomorrow.”

“You’ve got to promise me that you’ll continue the PT regimen we’ve started. There’s still a chance that your body will reject the leg. I’d rather you stay here for a bit longer.”

“Need to get home, son.” John smiled at the man who was only seven years younger but multiple generations in front of him. Time paradoxes gave him a headache. “But, before I left, I thought I’d repay the favor.”

“Favor?”

“I thought I’d tell you an uncomfortable truth. Your captain is in love with you.”

Bones flushed and shook his head, fussing with the blankets on the biobed. “It’s not nice to tease me about my crush…”

“Take some advice from your old grandpa. Tell the man how you feel.”

“Maybe you should take your own advice, old man.” Bones inclined his head toward Dorian, recharging in the corner.

“Don’t be such a smartass. You should respect your elders, Doc.” John laughed and patted Bones shoulder. He liked his grandson, respected him, and was proud of his skill. He hoped he could find happiness with Jim. He’d known, of course, Jim’s feelings for Bones and quickly figured out that Bones reciprocated those feelings. But now, seeing them together, it was obvious that they needed a nudge to be able to take the risk to step beyond friendship. 

He glanced over at Dorian, still charging in the corner, and knew his grandson was right. He needed to take his own advice. First, they needed to get back to their time though and cope with the fallout from their own time traveling. He really didn’t know how he’d explain his new leg to everyone, much less his feelings for a non-human partner.

That night, the foursome ate a celebratory dinner in medbay and stayed up long into the night, chatting, playing cards, and drinking Bones’ best bourbon. The next morning, they walked to the transporter room to meet Spock, Chekov, and Scotty. After fond hugs goodbye with both Bones and Jim, Dorian stepped up onto the transporter platform. John hugged Bones goodbye and then turned to Jim. John cupped Jim’s cheek and gave him a long, deep kiss. John broke the kiss, winked at a gobsmacked Bones, and jogged up to the pad where a scowling Dorian awaited.

“Remember the advice I gave you, Doc.”

As the transporter beams whisked their visitors away, Bones turned to Jim and demanded, “Did you sleep with my grandpa!?”

“Gentlemen never kiss and tell, Bones.” Jim patted him on the shoulder before sauntering out. 

“I believe that means yes, Doctor.”

“Shut up, Spock.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the medicine here seems a bit “magical.” I based this on the scene from Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home where Bones gives the 1980s kidney patient a pill that grows her a new kidney in about 5 minutes. I’m relying pretty heavily on Clarke’s law here “Any sufficiently advanced technology isindistinguishable from magic.”


	8. Chapter 8

Several hours later, and with two shots of liquid courage to sustain him, Jim carried his personal PADD down to medbay and knocked on Bones’ office door. After the scene in the transporter room, Jim knew Bones would hole up and pretend to be catching up on paperwork so he could indulge his love of sulking. He cracked the door and Bones glared at him from behind the desk. He took that as an invitation to walk in to the office and shut the door. 

“I think you’ll like seeing this.” Jim handed Bones the PADD he’d brought with him, queuing up a holograph of an old-fashioned wedding photo accompanied by an announcement of the first human-android wedding. John’s lovely daughter, Ella, was the flower girl. 

“I’ve already seen it. My mother and sister were..are..into genealogy. Go to conventions and all that.” Bones handed the PADD back, with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

“You knew they’d end up together! You knew this whole time. So you know who Abby was then?”

“A surrogate. Ella was actually John and Dorian’s daughter. And my great-grandmother, four times over. Took them twenty years to get human-android marriage legalized.”

“You didn’t tell them?”

“Spock gave me quite a lecture on temporal paradoxes and chaos theory. I was afraid to say too much. And, after all, I had a vested interest in them ending up together.”

“True.” Jim perched on the edge of the desk, next to Bones’ chair. “He was quite a guy.”

“Yes, you seemed to think so.” Bones sipped his bourbon and glared at his desk as though it had done him some deeply personal wrong. 

“They both were.”

“Oh God. You slept with my other grandpa too?” Bones’ jaw sagged as his eyes widened. At least he finally looked at me, thought Jim.

“No. I didn’t. Come on, Bones, if your secret fantasy suddenly came to life in front of you, you’d take the opportunity, right?” Jim thought that maybe those two shots of Scotty’s special moonshine blend on an empty stomach weren’t the best idea before this conversation. Bones locked eyes with him for a second, then dropped his gaze to Jim’s mouth, while worrying at his own lush bottom lip with his teeth. Slowly, Jim reached out and cupped Bones’ cheek. 

“Bones, what are we waiting for?” Bones leaned forward, giving Jim plenty of time to back away. Instead, Jim met him halfway, brushing his lips over Bones’ once and then again. Jim’s hands cradled Bones’ cheeks as he deepened the kiss, plundering Bones’ mouth. Bones wrapped his arms around Jim, pulling him into his lap. After several minutes, they broke apart, staring at each other wide-eyed. 

“I’m through with waiting, Bones.” Jim smiled at him. “It’s always been you. Just you for me. If I hadn’t gone back in time—“

“And slept with my great-granddaddy…” Bones rolled his eyes.

“Jealousy doesn’t become you, Bones. If I hadn’t gone back, I’d never have had the courage to be here now. And being here now with you is all that matters, Bones.”

Bones swallowed once and then sighed. “My granddaddy gave me some good advice when he was here. And he followed it himself. I guess I have courage equal to him.”

“Is that your way of telling me…”

“I love you, Jim.”

“Love you too, Bones.” Jim kissed him again, briefly, feeling happy and weightless as a balloon. “Now, will you tell me the whole story of Dorian and John?”

“I can only tell you what I know. They were together for over 50 years and had three kids, a girl and two boys. Their daughter, Ella, married my grandfather, Horatio McCoy and moved to Georgia.”

“Hmmm…I expect to double their record.”

“A century and six kids, huh? God help me.” Bones laughed as Jim kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kind comments and feedback! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> I have several other McKirk stories in the works. The next one up should be "Starship Lullaby" with Jim and Bones as parents. 
> 
> Visit me at Tumbler:
> 
> http://www.tumblr.com/blog/corrie71
> 
> or at Livejournal:
> 
> http://corrie71.livejournal.com


End file.
